John McGuinness towards floating TT
After a three-year absence, John McGuinness has returned to the International Northwest 200 road races last week and it proved to be a successful comeback as the Honda Racing driver scored a double in fifth place on Saturday.
Having had a lethargic period at the event in 2019 and then missed out due to the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, John has a lot of work to do to qualify on Tuesday and Thursday but he still diligently working on his business and although he would have preferred his grid position higher, eighth highest in the Suposystem class, he was in a confident mood ahead of the races.
Opting out of the Suprenalck race on Thursday night, which took place in wet, cold conditions, feature race day on Saturday, thankfully, dry and sunny all day with large crowds lining the long track The 8.9-mile link connects the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush and John opened the account for the day with a solid 11th place in the first Superbike race.
Since that time, however, he has been far more prominent on the leaderboard with the six-lap Superbike race which has seen him exceed 120 km/h on the CBR1000RR Honda Fireblade. Saturday at the end of the first round, he had a good long battle with Michael Sweeney, Dominic Herbertson and Nathan Harrison and although Sweeney played better than him, his good efforts paid off with fifth place. firmly at the checkered flag.
The Superbike race, held over a distance of more than seven laps, saw several riders withdraw due to tire problems. Completing the opening lap in a stellar fourth place, John spent all races battling regular road partners James Hillier, Michael Rutter and Ian Hutchinson, who later joined the team after passing. early college. He ended up taking fourth place and even though John crossed the line in sixth, Hillier was given a ten second penalty for overtaking Juniper Chicane and that meant John finished fifth in a row. to cap off a nice day of racing on the Causeway Coast.
What a good day for John’s Honda Racing with his young teammate Glenn Irwin wins both Superbike races for six consecutive wins at the event.
John McGuinness
“The weather on Tuesday and Thursday made it a challenging week but all was well on Saturday. With some good weather, a big crowd and no red flags, I had good pace in all my races and the Hondas never missed a beat. I don’t have the pace to run with the likes of Glenn and so have to be realistic about my results, but I think both me and the team can be satisfied with what we have achieved today.
“I was a bit insecure in my first Superbike race as Brian McCormack’s rear tire split in front of me and there were pieces of rubber flying everywhere. I was worried about Brian and although he kept things under control, it took me a while to get back to normal. After that, however, all went well and while it was tough going head-to-head between the Suposystem and Superbike races, two top finishes is no miracle here. and it’s good to fight James, Hutchy and Michael.”
John now turns his attention to the Isle of Man TT Races with the 26-time winner’s campaign set to get underway on Sunday, May 29 when inaugural practice kicks in.
He will compete in Superbike and Suposystem events with Honda Racing.
It’s been five years since SMT Racing, owned by businessman and longtime road racing enthusiast Robin Croft, competed for the TT but he and McGuinness are no strangers to each other riding the Morecambe Rocket for the team in Macau. Grand Prix between 2010 and 2012.
The combination of McGuinness and SMT Racing had already scored three top-seven finishes at the time and McGuinness and Croft have remained in touch ever since, with the latter assisting John in his Ducati TriOptions Cup campaigns it in 2020 and 2021.
John McGuinness
“Robin and I have had good times in the past, so I’m glad he’s supporting my TT campaign. Being on the field in two Supersport races is very important to me because you can’t miss any practice or time tracking nowadays.
“We have put together a good package; The Honda CBR600RR is going to be more competitive and I’ve got a good little team around me, so it really complements my rides with Honda Racing in 1000cc races. I’m confident we’ll rate ourselves well and I just look forward to continuing.”
SMT Racing has a good track record at the Isle of Man TT winning the opening Sidecar race in 2013 with Tim Reeves/Dan Sayle and taking multiple top 10 spots in solo races with drivers including Michael Rutter and Dan Stewart.
Practice for this year’s Isle of Man TT Races is scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 29.
